Insider Selling: SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Director Sells $139,722.00 in Stock

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SMGet Free Report) Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $139,722.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at $479,457. This represents a 22.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.0%

SM stock opened at $38.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 0.75. SM Energy Company has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $38.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SMGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SM. Roth Capital raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Susquehanna upped their target price on SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.19.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SM

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in SM Energy by 112.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,115 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,935,000 after purchasing an additional 49,740 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter valued at $2,243,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 666,070 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $12,456,000 after buying an additional 124,448 shares in the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter valued at about $13,299,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

(Get Free Report)

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations focus on acquiring and developing oil and gas properties and producing hydrocarbons from onshore assets in the United States.

The company’s principal operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and the South Texas region. SM Energy has also expanded its U.S. operating portfolio through acquisitions, including assets in Utah’s Uinta Basin.

Further Reading

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